From Type Beats to Musical Worlds: Meet noevdv

Fresh off the release of his debut EP, mulholland drive, noevdv sat down with us last week to discuss the creative process behind the project, the transition from type-beat producer to artist, and the challenge of building a visual world around music rooted primarily in production. Across eight tracks and just 16 minutes, mulholland drive balances nostalgia and mystery while offering the clearest introduction yet to Noé's artistic identity. The Belgium-based producer began making music at 13, building an audience through type beats inspired by artists such as Destroy Lonely, Ken Carson, Nettspend, and OsamaSon. A decade later, mulholland drive marks his first multi-song project, a release that took years in the making. 

“I thought it was the right moment now,” Noé tells us, as he explains the timing of creating and releasing mulholland drive. Since releasing the viral breakout single "want u" in 2024, noevdv has amassed hundreds of millions of streams, with the track becoming a frequent soundtrack for TikTok videos around the world. The euphoric, lo-fi rework of Clara La San’s song with the same name was the first introduction into the world of noevdv. Despite the viral success, though, Noé did not let it get to his head and instead worked even harder on defining his sound:

“It’s nice when it is always going up, and you think it’s never going to end…but then one day the numbers slow down, and you’re just there like, shit. What do I gotta do now? I think it’s an ego thing, though. I had to do a lot of work on myself and tell myself not to really care too much. When you're waiting your whole life for something to happen, and it happens, you become attached to it. Your ego becomes attached to it. I learned that it’s better not to worry too much about the numbers and focus on putting things out.”

Coming up as a type-beat producer, noevdv knows how important it is to make sure you are always putting things out; “You gotta stay consistent…a lot of people heard my name from type beats, and that’s because I was always making type beats especially for a lot of rappers who have come out in the last 5 years,” Noé says. That consistency became the foundation of his current work ethic.  “I was posting a beat every day at 7 PM, every single day.” His work creating Destroy Lonely-inspired type beats ultimately pushed him to develop a sound of his own and, as he puts it, "expand on that vibe." Another artist who has had a huge impact on his sound from making type beats with him in mind, or just seeing his approach with production, was Drake. “There’s a song on Dark Lane Demo Tapes with Chris Brown that has crazy pads on the track, and also the two different parts, and when I first heard it, I just wanted to make something that gave me that exact feeling,” Noé describes how hearing “Not You Too” was a catalyst to developing the sound you can hear throughout mulholland drive.

In our current internet age, where there is intense pressure to have instant success before an artist’s sound has even fully developed, it was refreshing to hear how much noevdv wanted to develop himself and grow as an artist. “I wanted to build a world, tell a story around the songs, and make sure the visuals all matched well.” Building a cohesive world around the project became one of Noé's primary goals. At only 16 minutes long, the EP is incredibly immersive; washed-out vocal samples, atmospheric production, and fragmented memories give mulholland drive the feeling of driving through moments you almost remember but can't fully place. When noevdv explained the length of the project, he had an emphasis on only having short songs; “Yeah, ‘want u’ was such a short song, I wanted to follow that vibe and create songs that were shorter but gave you an instant feeling or emotion. If the song is too long, it’s very easy to get lost.” A collection of songs noevdv has released over the past years, old and new, mulholland drive takes you on a coming-of-age journey of how Noé has developed from type-beat producer to an artist just scratching the surface of his potential. Moving from one track to the next, the project reveals a wide range of inspirations. Whether it be the reworked version of The-Dream’s classic summer track, “i luv ur girl,” or fragmented vocal experiments on “wonder about you,” noevdv showcases a broad range of influences throughout the project. 

His experiences between Belgium and Los Angeles also informed the project's development: 

“For example, when I was working on mulholland drive, I didn’t know I was making the project. So I was making beats all night and then driving home on Mulholland Drive listening to the tracks I had just worked on. That’s kind of how the whole idea came together.”

Now that the project is out, Noé can relax and get back to doing what he does best, making more music; “For me, releasing a full EP was a challenge because in a way I was putting myself out there [as an artist]. I’ve always been a producer behind the scenes. So now, having all the lights on me has been something to adapt to. The music has always felt natural, but now, on a personal level, I’ve had to adapt,” Noé talks about the challenges he’s faced since the EP’s release. When you release a project so personal to you, which is evident from the use of his own vocals on “never had the time,” or including claps from his first piano recital and airport noises from his first trip to L.A. on “running out of time,” it is hard not to be so attached to a project. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ues1tagI4c

However, Noé feels primed for the moment. With mulholland drive now released and a growing emphasis on visual storytelling, Noé appears focused less on chasing momentum and more on building a lasting artistic identity. “Visual storytelling is the most important thing ever in my mind, more important than the music sometimes. It always felt natural to post my music, but since I am not always singing or have lyrics on some of my tracks, I had to get creative with how I created visuals for my music. I’m excited to keep building on that with this project.” 

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/918626_f8ea5ce4e5c64cefaeae8f33efed5d55/720p/mp4/file.mp4

So what’s next for noevdv, and what artist can we expect to hear the “vdv got it” tag on: “I said Drake, but honestly Justin Bieber bro. A little JBieb track. I watched Never Say Never when I was like 6, and I was just like ‘I want to do that shit!’ It planted a seed in my head that I could make music. So that would be sick,” Noé says joyfully. Almost as if he manifested it, one day after our conversation, Justin Bieber shared "want u" on Instagram. For an artist who credits Never Say Never with inspiring him to make music in the first place, it felt like another reminder that the world of mulholland drive is only beginning to take shape.